


Through The Looking Glass

by LuciaWilt



Series: Cross Time [1]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003), Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Alphonse knows Flame Alchemy, Crossing Timelines, Ed in CoS clothing, Edward Elric Swears, Eventual Romance, M/M, Timeline Shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-01-07
Packaged: 2019-03-01 12:49:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13295241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuciaWilt/pseuds/LuciaWilt
Summary: There were so many times in Edward Elric’s life that things went awry that when he opened his eyes and saw unfamiliar surroundings, he did not immediately freak out. There was just no point in it anymore.





	Through The Looking Glass

**Author's Note:**

> so i had the idea of the 03 elric brothers being dropped into brotherhood verse and i liked it

There were so many times in Edward Elric’s life that things went awry that when he opened his eyes and saw unfamiliar surroundings, he did not immediately freak out. There was just no point in it anymore. A quick closer inspection of the material he was lying on indicated there were no transmutation circles so that was one less thing to worry about. He looked over his own body, noting that nothing had been drawn on his clothing or his skin. A quick glance across the room, since it seemed as though Ed was sleeping on a couch, had him spotting Alphonse who was also sleeping on some couch. He did the same routine he just did to himself, checking the couch for any transmutation circles before walking over to his little brother and looking over his body. The red coat only had the familiar Flamel symbol on the back; and none of his skin had any sort of ink on it either. Now that he got that out of the way, and saw that neither of them were tied up, Ed felt much better about the strange situation he woke up in. 

He turned towards his younger brother who was still fast asleep. Perhaps it was something still resting in Edward’s chest; the fact that he had not seen his brother’s physical form in so long, whatever it was it was telling him to let Al sleep just a little longer. If someone came back into the room they were in, Ed would wake him up. For now, he turned to look around. 

Wherever they were, it was nice. Well, it was furnished and covered in books on various surfaces so that was nice to Edward. It looked like some sort of town house actually. He walked around, not actually noticing there were no noticeable photographs of anyone. They were all just of around Amestris and other countries like Creta and what looked like Xing. The entire first floor consisted of the room they had woken up in which was a sitting room with a fire place. There was a kitchen; small with the curtains pulled closed and dull light flittering in from the window which indicated dawn rolling in. Aside from the kitchen and the living room, there was a small powder room and some sort of utility like room that lead out to a back door. The window on the door had a small curtain over it so Ed did not touch that either. The less he changed, the less whoever was holding them captive this time would notice. 

He checked Alphonse one more time before making his way to the steps. Similar to the first floor, there were only wilderness shots of the country side. Some were of animals, but none were of people. It irked Ed some simply because it did not help in his search for answers as to where they woke up. Though he continued on his search none the less. It did not take long. There three bedrooms upstairs with one bathroom. Just like the ground floor, books covered every inch of the place. The subjects ranged widely as well so that helped just about as much as the photographs did. 

Deciding that nothing would give him extra information, he went back down stairs to find Alphonse sleepy eyes slowly opening. It tugged on Ed’s heart strings, knowing that he had his brother back with him. He knew that he would do absolutely anything for Alphonse, and he demonstrated that before. So he knelt down beside his younger brother and brushed some of his golden brown hair out of his face. That was another thing that had a swell of heat bursting in Edward’s chest. The fact that his little brother took on his appearance, like some sort of prayer to a god long not listening; Edward could worship the ground Alphonse walked on and it still wouldn’t be enough. 

“Brother?” Al asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes with his gloves. It still amazed Ed, knowing that Al somehow got Mustang to teach him flame alchemy while Ed was on the other side of the gate. But if anyone could learn flame alchemy that fast, it would be Alphonse. Ed was serious when he though Al was smarter than him. He had just been trapped in that suit of armor. Out of it, there was no limitation to what Al could accomplish. 

The red stiching on the tops of Al’s gloves matched the black alchemic circles stiched onto the palms; which then in turn matched the coat Al now adorned. “What’s happening?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve looked around and haven’t been able to gather anything of note. It looks like we are in a town house though. Of course I haven’t pulled back the curtains that are closed. I didn’t want to arouse suspicion if we are being watched or if we were taken somewhere.” The two of them had been looking into a suspicious alchemist on the outskirts of Central in a quiet neighborhood. That was the last thing he remembered. He was sure that was the same thing for Al. Now that wasn’t the problem though. They had to figure out what they were going to do. 

Al stood, brushing off invisible dust before looking around the room just as Ed had done. His eys trailed over the books; his head tilting to the side as one book caught his eye. Ed watched as Al walked over and picked up one of the older books in the room. When he turned with it in his hands, he was finally able to read the front cover. 

_Le Livre des figures hiéroglyphiques._

The Book of hieroglyphic figures by Nicolas Flamel. 

It was one of Al’s favorites. Ed couldn’t tell you the number of times his younger brother has read the book. And it seemed as though whoever owned this copy of said script loved it about as much as Al. 

As he watched Al skim through the book, something flashed over his younger brother’s face before he snapped the thing close with an audible pop. He was about to ask what it was about; why he did such a thing, but Ed stopped himself. Yes his brother’s body was only about 14 years old; but mentally he was almost 20. Hell, mentally Al could be considered almost 30 after what he went through. Ed had to teach himself not to baby his younger brother. If that meant not asking about some random book, then he would do just that. 

“Let’s get out of here.”

“What?” Now Ed couldn’t hold back from asking about that. He was shocked still for a moment as Al simply walked over to what they both expected to be the front door. There was a moment where silence enveloped them. While it was a little irrational to just walk out the front door; especially with the strange situation they were in, both were ready to get out of the strange house, the sooner the better. 

Yet neither of them were expecting Al’s turn of the door knob to have the thing opening into the early morning air. The brothers shared a quick look before exiting the town house as fast as they could. Dressed in his brown jacket he brought with him from the other side of the gate, Ed would look like any other person in Central.

Lucky for them that seemed to be where they were. Whatever happened in that old house; they were brought further into the city. Maybe this was one of Mustang’s men’s house and they were just letting them rest for the time being. Though that wouldn’t make sense considering the amount of books. Ed knew for a fact that none of them were big readers. Well, aside from Mustang. And Ed had been to Mustang’s place and that was assuredly not it. He would have recognized it immediately. 

Either way they could see Central command just over some of the buildings.

“Let’s get back to Mustang.” They hadn’t actually found anything in that old Alchemist house. There had been an array but it wasn’t anything special. Both Ed and Al had seen it a thousand times. It was a water based circle; one that changed the temp and density of it, usually to make ice when someone was down south or out in the desert. It was just odd that there was a gap in their memory. None the less, it was one of the less strange things that happened to them. They had their bodies and they had the clothing on their backs; that’s all that mattered now to the two of them. 

~’~

Gracia knew it was early to open the shop, but she wanted to. The pies would not magically find their way into the oven and the flowers would not arrange themselves. Plus it was nice in the morning, when no one else was out and about. It gave the woman some time to think; to think about the past, the present, and the future. So many things had happened over the past few years and as hard as some it may have been, she would not redo any of it. Yes, that even meant the death of her husband. She missed Maes to the point of it being painful on bad days. Those were the times she could barely leave her room without sobbing. Thankfully her daughter was older now. So if she did spend the entire day in her room; her daughter would not be in trouble. 

She was dragging out one of the bigger pots of her daisies when a familiar thudding of running feet sounded down the street. It had been what? Two, three years since she last heard that sound of uneven footsteps? Of course back then it was accompanied by the sound of a metal suit right behind it. That had been a surprise upon seeing Alphonse’s true body for the first time. When Edward and Alphonse left after that, she cried tears of joy. They were joyful for those boys who had sacrificed so much and finally got something beautiful and wonderful in return. She knew that Maes’s sacrifice had not been in vain.

So Gracia turned, lifting a hand to wave to Edward and Alphonse as they ran by. 

Yet she paused.

“Hello Mrs. Hughes!”

“Hello Mrs. Gracia!” The calls of the two boys came and went as they sprinted past her shop. While she recognized Edward, she had no idea who the boy running behind him was. And it wasn’t until later that she realized Edward had gotten his arm and leg back all those years ago. His running pattern should not have sounded like that.

~’~

Both Ed and Al happily ran up the steps to central and past the parade grounds. With the morning sun just peaking over the edge of the walls, both felt the heat of the sun on their blonde heads. It was a nice day and they, well Ed, didn’t want that strange morning to upset them. So they quickly made their way through the halls of Central Command, making their way to Mustang’s office. Without knocking, much to Alphonse’s chagrin, Ed busted in. He did not notice three faces turning to look at them instead of four, but Alphonse did. “Brother…” Al tried, still following Ed as he made his way through the front office without saying a word to the bewildered soldiers all staring at them.

“Come on Al.” He said before pushing open Mustang’s door, once again without knocking or saying anything beforehand. 

Hawkeye was the first to spot the two since she was handing some paper to Mustang who had his head down as he read. Both boys had never seen such a shocked expression on her face as she took their visages in. When Mustang looked up, Ed finally realized something was majorly wrong. 

In the place of an eye patch was a set of thick rimmed glasses. The actual lenses looked thick; like almost an inch thick, like Mustang’s sight was almost gone completely. It took a second for him to focus since the glasses were obviously just for reading; but when he saw the two standing there, his eyes widened just like Hawkeye’s.

“Do you think it’s a homunculus Brother?” Al whispered to Ed, clinging to his older brother’s arm like he had when he was just a kid. The word apparently was not something to say around the two military members because the air in the room grew icy.

“I think I could ask the same of you… Alphonse?” Mustang stood slowly. Ed was shocked to notice Hawkeye’s hand in the position to reach for her gun. Did they really think Alphonse was a homunculus? That was preposterous. 

This was all just too bizarre. Ed couldn’t help but think it had something to do with the town house they woke up in. And the transmutation circle.

“And you look like Fullmetal…for the most part.” There was something definitely wrong. Mustang called him Edward now. It had been years since he last called him by that title. “Though the last time I saw Edward Elric, he had both his limbs back.”

Edward felt his skin grow cold. What? What in the world? What strange planet did they wake up on?

“Something is wrong.” Edward said before he could stop himself.

Mustang and Hawkeye could only nod. “I can’t help but wonder if you got into some sort of array you shouldn’t have gotten into.” Mustang added with something that was like attempted snark but if fell flat with worry. 

Ed scratched his head with his automail arm as he started to walk back and forth in Mustang’s office. 

He had to think back. What was different and what was the same? From what he was paying attention to as he ran to HQ, everything seemed normal. Gracia was there in her shop. Al even said hello so that was not abnormal. 

Central itself seemed fine. There was nothing different about the buildings and the few people that were out when they were running towards Central. From what he had seen inside the walls of the building, nothing seemed off. Nothing seemed off until he ran into Mustang’s office. Mustang was actually the first thing that was different than normal. Well that and the strange town house they had woken up in. 

He turned and opened the door to check on something, only to have three bodies fall forwards into a pile. That was one less then there should have been; which had him looking out into the front working office. When he did not spot the fourth person, everything else left his mind. Edward turned back to Mustang, stepping over the pile of his friends and standing beside Al once again. “Where the hell is Havoc?”

The silence that followed had Ed’s stomach twisting. 

“I said where the hell is Havoc? He was here just yesterday.” 

Al was nodding. “I can vouch for that sir. When you gave us our mission to check up on that old alchemist on the outskirts of Central, Havoc was here.” Of course he could have been out sick, but he would have to have been severely sick if Hawkeye let him off. And if he was that sick, Ed wanted to know and he wanted to know now. 

Breda, Falman, and Fuery were all standing solemenly to the side; actually stepping back so they could shut the door though Ed and Al were both sure they were still listening. 

“Answer me Brigadier General.”

“Fullmetal, it’s General. Though I’m expecting to understand what is happening. Or at least I’m having a bit of an idea as to what is happening.” He stood and walked around the desk, taking his glasses off while leaning against the front. The brother’s watched as he squeezed the bridge of his nose; obviously uncomfortable with the glasses, and or uncomfortable without them. “How old are you Fullmetal?”

“23.”

“And Alphonse.” Ed tensed and tucked the younger male closer behind him; as though everyone was still out to get them though they knew the homunculus were gone. 

“14.” He bit out. Hawkeye made a noise of surprise, and Mustang just covered up a hint of shock.

“Considering you were in Resembol last night and Alphonse was in Xing studying Alkahestry the last time I check, something went incredibly wrong with this alchemist “I” sent you two to check on.” 

**Author's Note:**

> If you are wondering about the ages, I like to go by the standard fanon thing that the gate warps time. And Al freaks out about the book because Brotherhood verse Al made all the exact same notes and doodles that 03 Al did. So he knows something very strange is going on.


End file.
